Hard Numbers: US to take in 100K refugees, cost of living surges in Russia, North Korea tests ICBM, polio scare hits Malawi, militants surrender in Nigeria
100,000: The Biden administration announced Thursday that the US will welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and others fleeing Russian aggression. This will happen over the “long term” and therefore will not require raising the annual refugee cap.
14: Amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the cost of living has risen 14% in Russia over the past week. Diapers and staples such as tea, coffee, and onions have risen at the quickest rate. Inflation is expected to continue rising as the ruble takes a massive hit from Western sanctions.
5: North Korea has tested a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in five years. Japan said that the ICBM landed within its exclusive economic zone and reached an extremely high altitude level. Kim Jong Un could be trying to get attention as G7 leaders, distracted by Ukraine, meet in Europe.
23 million: After an outbreak of wild polio was found in Malawi for the first time in 30 years, around 23 million children under age five in southern Africa will be offered vaccinations against the disease. This comes two years after Africa was declared free of wild polio, which ravaged the continent for decades.
7,000: Nigerian media say that 7,000 Islamic State and Boko Haram fighters have surrendered in the country’s northeast over the past week amid an ongoing effort by authorities to quash the militant groups. More than 350,000 Nigerians have been killed in attacks by terror groups over the past decade.